This guide adapts rules and examples from Microsoft’s 74-page Maltese Localization Style Guide (originally written for software/UI localization). The underlying linguistic rules apply universally — to legal contracts, medical documents, marketing copy, and any Maltese translation work. Restructured and reformatted as a general Maltese translator reference by ChatsControl.

Maltese Translation Style Guide — Voice, Word Choice & Common Pitfalls (Legal, Medical, Marketing, IT)¶

TL;DR¶

• Modern Maltese translation prefers warm, conversational register; replace formal forms (madankollu → imma/iżda, għaldaqstant → għalhekk, irreferi għal → ara) with modern equivalents in consumer-facing content.
• Master the definite article il- / l- with sun letters (xemxin): ċ/d/n/r/s/t/x/ż/z assimilate (iċ-ċitazzjoni, id-dominju, in-netwerk, ir-reviżjoni); other letters stay as l- or il- (l-art, il-Ħamis, il-programm).
• Maltese is a Semitic-Romance hybrid — adapt English loanwords with appropriate phonological/morphological integration; consult Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti decisions (Deċiżjonijiet 2) for English loanword orthography.
• Apply gender-inclusive strategies: use plural forms (utenti, nies, individwi) instead of singular gendered references; use plural pronoun ‘huma’ to refer to a single person; avoid huwa/hija constructions.
• Reference authoritative Maltese sources: Akkademja tal-Malti, Il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti (kunsillmalti.gov.mt) — Tagħrif fuq il-Kitba Maltija, Deċiżjonijiet 1 & 2; Aquilina Maltese-English-Maltese Dictionary; Briffa English-Maltese Dictionary; Il-Miklem online encyclopedia.

Reference materials¶

Normative References:

1. Akkademja tal-Malti (2004). Tagħrif fuq il-Kitba Maltija II. Malta: Klabb Kotba Maltin.
2. Il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti — Tagħrif fuq il-Kitba Maltija (kunsillmalti.gov.mt); Żieda mat-Tagħrif; Aġġornament tat-Tagħrif fuq il-Kitba Maltija.
3. Il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti (2008). Deċiżjonijiet 1. Malta: Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti.
4. Il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti (2018). Id-Deċiżjonijiet 2 fuq il-kitba tal-kliem mill-Ingliż fil-Malti (Decisions 2 on English loanwords).
5. L-Awtorità Maltija għall-Kompetizzjoni u l-Affarijiet tal-Konsumatur. L-Istandard tal-Locale tal-Lingwa Maltija (MSA 200).
6. L-Awtorità Maltija għall-Kompetizzjoni u l-Affarijiet tal-Konsumatur. L-Istandard tat-Tifsila tat-Tastiera Maltija (MSA 100).
7. Il-Liġijiet ta’ Malta. Kap. 16: Kodiċi Ċivili. Art. 4.

Informative References:

1. Aquilina, J (2006). Maltese-English-Maltese Dictionary. Malta: Midsea Books.
2. Briffa, C (2015). The English-Maltese Dictionary for the 21st Century. Allied Publications.
3. Serracino-Inglott, M (2016). Id-Dizzjunarju Malti u teżawru ta’ Malti mħaddem. Merlin Library.
4. Il-Miklem (electronic version) — http://www.ilmiklem.com/
5. Il-Ġabra, open lexicon for Maltese — https://mlrs.research.um.edu.mt/resources/gabra/
6. Il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti (2018). Standardizzazzjoni.
7. Il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti (2022). Lista biblijografika tal-Malti.

Register and tone for modern Maltese translation¶

Three principles define the modern Maltese register for consumer-facing content:

• Warm and relaxed. Natural, less formal, grounded in honest conversations.
• Crisp and clear. Written for scanning first, reading second.
• Ready to help. Anticipates the reader’s needs and offers information at the right moment.

Guidelines:

• Write short, easy-to-read sentences.
• Avoid passive voice — it’s difficult to read and understand quickly.
• Be pleasant; ensure explanations appear individualized and enjoyable to read.
• Avoid slang; be careful with colloquialisms.

Brand and product names. Avoid overuse of company/brand or product names. Avoid the corporate “we” (“Microsoft announces…”, “We’re proud to introduce…”, “We want you to know”). Keep focus on “you” — the reader.

Why this matters: Bureaucratic register damages outcomes across spheres. In marketing copy it kills conversion. In patient-facing medical materials it reduces comprehension and compliance. In software UI it creates friction. In consumer-facing legal documents plain Maltese improves regulator and reader trust.

Audience targeting¶

Choose technical terms for technical audiences; for consumers use common words. Applies to all spheres — legal corporate counsel uses Latinate procedural shorthand; consumer-facing versions need plain Maltese. Medical for clinicians keeps Greek/Latin nomenclature; for patients it switches to common terms.

Word choice: short forms and everyday words¶

The Maltese language has limitations on shortened word forms — it’s not common to shorten words like “info” and “sync”. Exception: “app”, which has become common in speech. Generally, compound words are shortened to one word in common speech.

Words and phrases to avoid in modern Maltese¶

Sample translations: addressing the user to take action¶

Promoting a feature¶

Providing how-to guidelines¶

Explanatory text and support¶

Inclusive language¶

Use plain language. Be mindful when referring to various parts of the world. Don’t generalize/stereotype. Don’t use profane/derogatory/slang/biased terms.

Avoid gender bias¶

Use gender-neutral alternatives. Avoid compounds with gender-specific terms. Use general terms (nies, utenti, persuni) instead of separate male/female mentions.

When presenting generalization, use plural noun forms (nies, individwi, studenti).

Don’t use gendered pronouns (hi, hija, hu, huwa) in generic references. Instead:

• Rewrite to use the second or third person (inti or xi ħadd).
• Rewrite the sentence to have a plural noun and pronoun.

Verb forms taking masculine or feminine affixes should be avoided where possible. The Maltese imperative, imperfect, and perfect tenses for the second person don’t distinguish between sexes (unlike participles). Where a gender-sensitive form can’t be avoided, substitute verbs to avoid addressing a male or female specifically.

In Maltese, if you can’t write around the problem, it’s OK to use a plural pronoun (huma) in generic references to a single person. Don’t use constructions like hu/hi and huwa/hija.

When writing about a real person, use the pronouns the person prefers. Gendered pronouns (huwa, hija, tiegħu, tagħha) are OK when writing about real people who use those pronouns themselves.

Accessibility¶

Focus on people, not disabilities. Don’t use words that imply pity (li jsofri minn, li jbati minn). Don’t mention a disability unless relevant.

Use generic verbs applying to all input methods and devices:

Keep paragraphs short. Spell out words like u, plus, dwar. Screen readers can misread &, +, ~.

Language-specific standards¶

Abbreviations¶

Common Maltese abbreviations:

Use non-breaking space (CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR) in abbreviations. Don’t abbreviate words users might not recognize.

Acronyms¶

Acronyms are words made of initial letters of major parts of a compound term (WYSIWYG, OLE, RAM).

In Maltese, generic terms after acronyms can help when acronyms aren’t well known or stand for English words (e.g., numru personali PIN). Avoid clearly redundant forms: lingwa HTML (-).

Gender of acronyms. Generally that of the main word: (memorja) RAM = feminine; (netwerk) LAN = masculine; (numru) PIN = masculine. Context may shift gender: (lingwa) HTML vs (format) HTML.

Number of acronyms. Use nouns before the acronym and/or adjectives after it: “netwerks LAN ikkonfigurati”.

Localized acronyms. In online help/documentation, spell out the first time using language-specific translation, US term, and acronym: Organizzazzjoni Internazzjonali għall-Istandardizzazzjoni (International Organization for Standardization, ISO).

Don’t create new acronyms from language-specific translations. Leave English acronym intact:

Unlocalized acronyms. Standardized untranslated acronyms: ISO, USB.

Adjectives¶

Maltese adjectives describe or modify another person or thing.

Possessive adjectives. Omit in translations unless needed. Use of possessive “tiegħek” (your) is sometimes recommended for courteous personal interface. The verb “tixtieq” is more courteous yet more informal than “teħtieġ”.

Adjectives from topographic names. First letter capitalized: ir-reġjun Bask, iċ-ċentru Mosti.

Negative meaning through derivative markers — less common than English:

Articles¶

Maltese articles combine with nouns to indicate definiteness.

Capitalization of articles. Only capitalized at start of sentence, phrase, heading, or if integral to a proper noun. First letter of article at the beginning of a proper name is capitalized when the name is used on its own (Il-Gudja, L-Italja).

The hyphen “-” in definite articles is distinct from compound-word hyphen. Most common forms: l- and il- (l-art, il-Ħamis, il-programm, l-investigazzjoni).

Sun letters (xemxin). Before sun letters, “l” assimilates to the following consonant. Sun letters: ċ, d, n, r, s, t, x, ż, z. Examples (with and without euphonic vowel “i”):

• (i)ċ-ċitazzjoni
• (i)d-dominju
• (i)n-netwerk
• (i)r-reviżjoni
• (i)s-sistema
• (i)t-tagħrif
• (i)x-xogħol
• (i)ż-żieda
• (i)z-zokkor

Unlocalized product and feature names without articles:

Localized feature names used with article:

Capitalization¶

If first word in English is capitalized, corresponding Maltese first word should also be capitalized. Don’t start strings concatenated at run-time with uppercase unless required.

Proper names (applications, wizards, programs) need to be capitalized (Microsoft Office Outlook, Excel). Generic terms in lowercase.

Proper names — capitalize first letter of each word excluding article and preposition: Marija Borg, il-Gudja, Malta, Venere, Triq il-Kbira, Bieb il-Belt, in-nies ta’ Tas-Sliema, l-Aġenzija Appoġġ, Ħadd il-Palm, Ta’ Pinu, ix-xatt ta’ Ta’ Xbiex, l-Awtorità tax-Xandir, il-Kamra tal-Avukati, l-Ordni ta’ San Ġwann, il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ktieb, il-Bank Nazzjonali tad-Demm, l-Università ta’ Malta.

Common names used as proper names — first letter capitalized: il-Knisja f’Malta; nidħol sal-Belt; il-Kritika Prattika suġġett interessanti ħafna.

Directions — first letter of each word: riħ Tramuntana; Grieg il-Lvant; il-Punent; il-Lvant; in-Nofsinhar; ix-Xlokk.

Publications — first letter capitalized: reklam f’Il-Ġens, il-karattru ewlieni fi Ħdejn in-Nixxiegħa.

Scientific names — two words (genus, species), italicized, first letter of genus capitalized, second lowercase: il-Pistacia lentiscus, it-Tyrannosaurus rex, il-Monticola solitarius.

Scientific/product names with euphonic vowel — first letter of name capitalized, not euphonic vowel: l-iSparidae, l-iStegosaurus, l-iStromatopteris, l-iSpell.

Popular names of flora/fauna/chemical elements — lowercase: il-begonja, l-oleandru, il-pitirross, l-awrat, l-aluminju, iċ-ċomb.

Topographic names — first letter capitalized: Il-Baħar Mediterran, il-Vulkan Etna, ix-Xmara Nil, il-Muntanja Sinaj, il-Baħar l-Aħmar, l-Oċean Indjan, il-Wied tal-Isperanza, il-Blata tal-Ġeneral, il-Gżejjer ta’ San Pawl, il-Bajja ta’ San Tumas.

Adjectives from topographic names — capitalized: ir-reġjun Bask, iċ-ċentru Mosti.

Names of people from a particular place — capitalized: Mosti, Għawdxi, Ingliża, Ġermaniżi, Taljan, Ewropea, Amerikani.

Languages and language families — capitalized: il-Malti, l-Ingliż, ir-Rumanz, kliem ta’ nisel Semitiku, Ingliżata, Arabiżmu.

Organizations and movements — capitalized: l-Akkademja tal-Malti, l-Barokk, ir-Rinaxximent, il-Postmoderniżmu, l-Iżlam.

Adjectives from movements/organizations/religions — capitalized: l-arti Rinaxximentali, pajjiż Nisrani, stil Sikulo-Normann.

Members of organizations/movements — capitalized: Il-Buddisti, id-Dumnikani, il-Franġiskani Kapuċċini, l-Impressjonisti, il-Kattoliċi, il-Laburisti u n-Nazzjonalisti, ir-Rinaxximentali, ir-Romantiċi.

Titles immediately preceding names — capitalized: l-Avukat Pawlu Hili, it-Teżoriera Michelle Borg, l-Isqof Pawlu Cremona.

Abbreviated titles — always capitalized: ir-Rev. Ġorġ Attard, Dr Josette Grima, Dott. Mario Piscopo, is-Sur Michael Farrugia, il-Prof. Lina Xuereb, l-Onor. Peter Attard, l-Inġ. Justine Zammit.

Titles used on their own with reference to specific person — capitalized: it-Teżorier qal, l-attendenza tal-Arċisqof.

Titles used as common names — lowercase: laħaq kanonku, kull teżorier.

Currencies — lowercase: tliet ewro, seba’ ċenteżmi, lira sterlina, disa’ dollari.

Months and days of the week — capitalized: Jannar, Ġunju, Diċembru, il-Ħadd, l-Erbgħa, il-Ġimgħa, is-Sibt.

Seasons and centuries — lowercase: ir-rebbiegħa, il-ħarifa, l-ewwel jum tas-sajf, fi tmiem ix-xitwa, mis-seklu dsatax sas-seklu wieħed u għoxrin.

Compounds, conjunctions, gender, genitive, loanwords¶

Compounds should be understandable and clear. Avoid overly long or complex compounds.

Loanwords. Consult Il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti’s Deċiżjonijiet 2 on English loanword orthography. Some English loanwords are kept in English when widely understood (DLL, DDE/OLE, ISO, USB, etc.).

Genitive. Constructed with “ta’” + definite article: il-ktieb ta’ Mario, il-pjazza ta’ San Ġorġ.

Localizing colloquialisms. Don’t replace source colloquialism with Maltese unless perfect fit. Translate intended meaning. Omit if non-integral.

Modifiers¶

Be precise and natural; avoid words that mean “perfect,” “superlative,” “permanent” in an assertive manner unless based on fact.

Nouns¶

Inflect for gender and number. Use plural forms for generalization.

Numbers¶

Use numerals for measurements. Avoid beginning a sentence with a numeral.

Prepositions¶

Use proper Maltese prepositions, not anglicisms.

Pronouns¶

Avoid gendered pronouns in generic references; use plural huma.

Punctuation¶

Follow Maltese rules per Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti (2008). Deċiżjonijiet 1.

Sentence fragments¶

Use sentence fragments for conversational tone.

Symbols & non-breaking spaces¶

Use non-breaking space (CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR) where appropriate.

Verbs¶

Use simple tenses. Simple present is default. Avoid future tense unless describing something that will really happen.

Localization considerations¶

Accessibility¶

General accessibility info: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/.

Applications, products, and features¶

Trademarked names rarely translated. Version numbers always contain a period (Version 4.2).

Trademarks¶

Trademarked names and “Microsoft Corporation” shouldn’t be localized unless local laws require translation.

Error messages¶

Apply modern voice principles to ensure target is natural, empathetic, not robot-like.

Standard phrases: Cannot/Could not → ma…x; Failed to → ma…x; Not enough memory → memorja insuffiċjenti; … is not available → mhux disponibbli.

Placeholders. %d/%ld/%u/%lu = number; %c = letter; %s = string. Find out what will replace the placeholder.

Keys and shortcuts¶

Names of keys on the keyboard should not be translated.

English pronunciation¶

English terms left unlocalized pronounced the English way. For common terms with established Maltese pronunciation, use the local one.

FAQ¶

What’s the right register for modern Maltese translation across professional contexts?¶

Warm, clear, conversational. Replace classic/formal forms (madankollu → imma/iżda, għaldaqstant → għalhekk, flimkien ma’ → kif ukoll/u, irreferi għal → ara, għal aktar tagħrif → sir af aktar, sussegwenti → li jmiss, ulterjuri → aktar) with modern equivalents in consumer-facing content. Avoid corporate ‘we’ — keep focus on the reader.

How do the Maltese definite article and ‘sun letters’ (xemxin) work?¶

The base definite article is il- or l-. Before sun letters (ċ, d, n, r, s, t, x, ż, z), the ‘l’ assimilates to the following consonant: iċ-ċitazzjoni, id-dominju, in-netwerk, ir-reviżjoni, is-sistema, it-tagħrif, ix-xogħol, iż-żieda, iz-zokkor. Before other consonants (moon letters), the article stays as l- (l-art) or il- (il-programm, il-Ħamis). The hyphen in the definite article is distinct from compound-word hyphens.

How should I handle English loanwords in Maltese?¶

Maltese is a Semitic-Romance hybrid with extensive borrowing from English. Adapt loanwords with appropriate phonological/morphological integration. Consult Il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti’s Deċiżjonijiet 2 specifically for decisions on writing English loanwords in Maltese. Keep some terms in English (DLL, DDE/OLE, ISO, USB) when widely understood. Use generic noun before acronym to clarify meaning where needed (numru personali PIN).

How should I handle gender bias in Maltese translation?¶

Use gender-neutral alternatives. Use plural forms (utenti, nies, individwi, studenti) instead of singular gendered references. Use the plural pronoun ‘huma’ to refer to a single person of unknown gender. Don’t use huwa/hija or hu/hi constructions. Some English loanwords (nurse, infermier(a)) can serve both genders. Verb forms with masculine/feminine affixes should be avoided where possible.

Which Maltese language references should I consult?¶

Normative: Akkademja tal-Malti (2004); Il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti — Tagħrif fuq il-Kitba Maltija and Deċiżjonijiet 1 & 2 at kunsillmalti.gov.mt; MSA 200 (Maltese locale standard) and MSA 100 (keyboard layout). Informative: Aquilina Maltese-English-Maltese Dictionary (2006); Briffa English-Maltese Dictionary for the 21st Century; Serracino-Inglott Id-Dizzjunarju Malti; Il-Miklem electronic dictionary (ilmiklem.com); Il-Ġabra open lexicon (mlrs.research.um.edu.mt/resources/gabra).

What capitalization rules differ between English and Maltese?¶

In English headings, all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs are capitalized. In Maltese, follow normal Maltese rules — only the first letter of the first word in titles/headings (plus proper nouns). The Maltese article (il-/l-) is only capitalized at the start of a sentence, phrase, heading, or when integral to a proper noun. Months and days of the week are capitalized (Jannar, il-Ħadd) but seasons and centuries are not (ir-rebbiegħa, is-seklu).

How do Maltese acronyms handle gender and number?¶

Gender of an acronym is generally that of the main word: (memorja) RAM = feminine; (netwerk) LAN = masculine; (numru) PIN = masculine. Context can shift gender: (lingwa) HTML vs (format) HTML have different gender depending on which generic noun applies. Plural is indicated using nouns before the acronym and/or adjectives after it: “netwerks LAN ikkonfigurati.”

Sources¶

• Microsoft Localization Style Guide for Maltese (PDF)
• Microsoft Globalization Style Guides hub
• Il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti
• Il-Miklem online encyclopedia
• Il-Ġabra open lexicon